Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It . . . Every Time

-It's a startling and disconcerting read that should make you think twice every time a friend of a friend offers you the opportunity of a lifetime.---Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and bestselling author of Devil in the White CityThink you can't get conned? T

The author of Mastermind, a book that instructed us to think with deduction and precision in the vein of Sherlock Holmes, brings us The Confidence Game, a look at some of the most skillful cons every executed, how the grifters performed them, why people were often willing participants to the bitter end, and how we can be more aware and less likely to be taken for a ride. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

If you're going to read 40 business books published in 2016, make them this 40—or, I suppose, choose from among them. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

Full Description

-It's a startling and disconcerting read that should make you think twice every time a friend of a friend offers you the opportunity of a lifetime.---Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and bestselling author of Devil in the White CityThink you can't get conned? Think again. The New York Times bestselling author of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes explains how to spot the con before they spot you. -[An] excellent study of Con Artists, stories & the human need to believe- -Neil Gaiman, via TwitterA compelling investigation into the minds, motives, and methods of con artists--and the people who fall for their cons over and over again. While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true conmen--the Bernie Madoffs, the Jim Bakkers, the Lance Armstrongs--are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. How do they do it? Why are they successful? And what keeps us falling for it, over and over again? These are the questions that journalist and psychologist Maria Konnikova tackles in her mesmerizing new book. From multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes to small-time frauds, Konnikova pulls together a selection of fascinating stories to demonstrate what all cons share in common, drawing on scientific, dramatic, and psychological perspectives. Insightful and gripping, the book brings readers into the world of the con, examining the relationship between artist and victim. The Confidence Game asks not only why we believe con artists, but also examines the very act of believing and how our sense of truth can be manipulated by those around us.